The first week we landed in Arizona, I posted countless questions on a facebook group of Israelis in Arizona. I asked where to buy, tahini, where to buy chickpeas, where I can buy semolina and bulgur for Friday’s kubeh.
Women answered me with countless answers. And I received a private message from a woman who gave me everything in detail, and she sent me her phone as well and wrote ” I’m here for anything you need.”
You must know tales about a certain person who, like an angel, comes and helps you, without knowing you and without wanting to get anything in return. And so it was with Anat and her husband: They introduced us to restaurants, helped us buy a car, took us to beautiful places in the area, went with us to the supermarket to do grocery shopping (I didn’t think it would be so hard, especially since I know the language) and most of all they helped us feel at home in a foreign country.
Anat invited us for Friday dinner, and I said I would make challah.
Jews eat challah on Shabbat (Friday dinner) and on holidays. On Shabbat, Jews are ordered to eat three meals; It is customary to bless over two Challahs on Shabbat, to remind us, that God had dropped down from the sky bread to the Jewish people, during their long journey from Egypt to Israel- and on Fridays the quantity was doubled- so they would have enough for Saturday.
When we arrived at Anat’s for the Friday dinner, my challahs, warm and beautiful, felt abandoned and sad, dried slowly on the side. I did not understand why nobody tasted them. Dima said that they were delicious, and added that maybe because everyone was full from all the good food.
A week later, Anat invited us again to Friday dinner, and she prepared the challahs this time, and then I understood why my challahs had barely been touched last week. Her challahs were so sweet and fluffy, a kind of sweet cotton in a shape of challah. And after eating this challah, one can’t eat or prepare any other challah. Of course I immediately asked for the recipe – and Anat, who was no longer anonymous, not only did she give it to me, but she also told me to come and watch her prepare it for next week.
Frankly, before we got to the US , I barley prepared challah (I have a tendecy to gain weight- and fast! ), but for some reason, here in a foreign country, it is more important than ever to respect the Shabbat.
Challah for Shabbat
Print Recipe
Serves: 24 small challahs or 2 big ones
Cooking Time: 35 preparing
Rising Time: 3 1/2 hours
Ingredients
- 6 ½ cups of all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons of dry yeast
- 3 eggs at room temperature
- ¾ cup of sugar
- ¾ cup of oil
- 1 tablespoon of salt
- 2 ¼ cups of lukewarm water.
Instructions
1
Put in a mixer the flour, sugar and yeast and mix well on at lowest speed.
2
Add 2 eggs, the water and add the oil gradually. Let the mixer knead the dough between 10 and 12 minutes. If you do not have a mixer, the work becomes a bit harder, kneading dough is not an easy work, especially not for such a long time. After 10-12 minutes place the mixer bowl in a large plastic bag (trash bag would be perfect) tie it and let it rise for two and a half hours.
3
Give the dough a punch to get the air out of it and let it sit for another hour.
4
Put the dough onto a lightly oiled work surface and shape it any way you want.
5
To make the shape of the snail that I’ve done, make two long “snakes”, attach them together in one end, and wrap them like a braid. Roll the braid into a snail and glue the end to the bottom of it.
6
After making the shape, place it onto a pan with baking sheet and let the dough rise for another half hour.
7
Beat the remaining egg and spread it with a brush on the shaped dough. You can sprinkle sesame seeds or poppy seeds.
8
Bake for 15-20 minutes at a temperature of 355 F°
9
Shabbat Shalom 🙂
Notes
You can add to the dough what ever you like!! Here I added some dry cranberries.
Shabat Shalom!!
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